Battle-axe lots in NSW: handle width, lot area and access rules

A battle-axe lot is a lot that reaches the street only through a narrow access handle, and across NSW the handle is treated as a driveway, not as land you can count. Almost every Sydney LEP excludes the handle from the lot area for minimum lot size and dual occupancy purposes, the Codes SEPP and the Housing SEPP exclude it for complying development, and each council’s DCP sets a minimum handle width, commonly 3.5 to 4 metres for one dwelling and 5 to 6 metres where the handle is shared, together with rules on driveway grades, turning and where the bins go. Some councils go further: Penrith LEP 2010 prohibits a dual occupancy on a battle-axe lot in the R2 zone altogether. This article gives investors the rules from Blacktown, The Hills, Penrith and Georges River, the state codes and the choice between DA and CDC for a rear lot.

Who this is for: investors looking at a rear lot, a hatchet-shaped block or a front-and-back subdivision in Sydney who need to know how the handle is measured, what fits behind it and which approval pathway is open.

Why is the access handle excluded from the lot area?

Because the handle cannot hold a building. The Standard Instrument LEPs adopted across NSW carry a clause excluding the handle from lot size calculations, and the Sydney councils have written it into their subdivision and dual occupancy clauses. Clause 4.1(3B) of Blacktown LEP 2015 states that if a lot is a battle-axe lot or other lot with an access handle, the area of the handle is not to be included when calculating the size of the lot for the minimum subdivision lot size clause, and Clause 4.1AA(3A) repeats it for community title. Clause 4.1A(3) and Clause 4.1B(6) of Georges River LEP 2021 exclude the handle and any right of carriageway from both the dual occupancy lot size test and the subdivided lot test. Clause 4.1AC(5) of Liverpool LEP 2008 and Clause 4.1D(6) of Hornsby LEP 2013 do the same for dual occupancy subdivision, and Clause 4.1(4A) of Campbelltown LEP 2015 for subdivision generally.

The state codes agree. Clause 1.5 of the Codes SEPP defines a battle-axe lot as a lot that has access to a road by an access laneway, and Schedule 1 clause 1(3) of State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 provides that the area of the access laneway for a battle-axe lot is excluded in calculating the area of the lot for secondary dwelling complying development. The practical effect is that a 700 square metre block with a 3.5 metre by 25 metre handle is a 612 square metre lot for every planning test. Investors who calculate yield on the title area routinely find the rear lot fails the LEP minimum or the 450 square metre granny flat threshold by the width of the driveway.

What handle width do Sydney DCPs require?

Widths vary by council and by how many lots the handle serves. Section 2.5 of Blacktown DCP 2015 Part C sets the council’s access corridor requirements at a maximum length of 60 metres, a minimum width of 3.5 metres, and a minimum width of 5 metres for a shared corridor, with no more than two lots served by a shared corridor and, in general, no more than two battle-axe lots adjoining each other. The same section requires vehicles to be able to enter and leave in a forward direction, and Section 2.4 requires a battle-axe lot to have a minimum dimension of 12 metres in any direction. The Hills DCP 2012 Part B Section 2 sets the minimum handle width at 4 metres for one lot and 6 metres for two or more lots, and requires the area excluding the access corridor to be no less than the LEP minimum lot size. Georges River DCP 2021 Part 6.1 does not set the handle width in its dual occupancy chapter but requires a 1.2 metre side setback from the front dwelling to the handle and fixes the setbacks between the two dwellings; the subdivision chapter and the engineering specification set the physical width. Penrith DCP 2014 Part D2 is silent on width in the residential chapter but relies on the council’s engineering requirements for driveways and the LEP’s battle-axe rules.

The reason the shared handle needs 5 or 6 metres is passing: two cars cannot pass on a 3.5 metre driveway, so a shared corridor must allow a vehicle to wait or pass. The reason for the 60 metre length cap and the forward direction rule is the same: a reversing car over 40 metres of driveway onto a footpath is a refusal ground under Section 4.15(1)(b) of the EP&A Act on safety, regardless of the DCP.

What else do the DCPs and LEPs control on a battle-axe lot?

Setbacks, dual occupancy permissibility, secondary dwelling thresholds and waste collection. The Hills DCP 2012 requires dwellings on battle-axe lots to be set back 4 metres for single storey elements and 6 metres for two and three storey elements to three sides of the lot, which on a 12 by 30 metre rear lot leaves a very small two storey footprint. Georges River DCP 2021 Section 6.1.3 sets, for a detached dual occupancy in a battle-axe configuration, a 4 metre rear setback for the front lot, a 6 metre rear setback for the rear lot, a 2 metre front setback for the rear dwelling giving 6 metres between the dwellings, 1.2 metre side setbacks (1.5 metres in the Foreshore Scenic Protection Area) and a 1.2 metre setback from the front dwelling to the handle.

Penrith is the strictest on permissibility. Clause 4.1A(3) of Penrith LEP 2010 says that despite any other provision of the plan the consent authority must not grant consent to a dual occupancy on a battle-axe lot in Zone R2, and in Zone R3 the same clause sets 600 square metres for an attached and 700 square metres for a detached dual occupancy on a battle-axe lot against 550 and 650 for a standard lot. Penrith DCP 2014 Part D2 Section 2.3.1 sets the minimum lot size for a secondary dwelling at 450 square metres and states that on battle-axe allotments this does not include the area of the access handle. Blacktown DCP 2015 Part C Section 3.6.8 prohibits carports and similar structures in the handle.

Bins are a practical rather than a written control in most residential DCPs. Councils’ waste collection is from the kerb, so a rear lot needs a bin standing area at the street end of the handle or an agreement that bins are wheeled the full length of the driveway on collection day. Blacktown DCP 2015 requires, for multi dwelling developments, an accessway at least 5.5 metres wide to a bin standing area where collection is on site, and a paved bin standing area at the street entrance for wheeled bins; The Hills DCP 2012 requires waste storage adequate for the bins with a path to wheel them to the street. For a single rear dwelling the DA should show where the bins sit on collection day and that they do not block the shared driveway.

Council versus council: battle-axe controls compared

Where the table says “confirm”, the control was not readable in the DCP part reviewed for this article and should be checked with the council’s current DCP and engineering specification before you rely on it.

DA or CDC for a house or granny flat on a battle-axe lot?

Both pathways are possible, but the codes are stricter on geometry. For a secondary dwelling, Schedule 1 clause 2(1)(c) of the Housing SEPP 2021 allows complying development on a battle-axe lot only if the lot has an access laneway at least 3 metres wide and measures at least 12 metres by 12 metres excluding the laneway, with the lot at least 450 square metres excluding the laneway. The Housing Code in Part 3 of the Codes SEPP applies a similar lot area and laneway approach to a new dwelling house, and Part 3B applies it to dual occupancies, with the current widths to be confirmed on the legislation website. If the handle is 2.9 metres wide, or the rear lot is 11.8 metres across at the narrowest point, the CDC is not available and a DA is the only route. The DA allows the council to accept a narrower handle where the DCP permits merit variation, but Penrith’s Clause 4.1A(3) prohibition on R2 dual occupancies is an LEP standard that no DA can overcome without a Clause 4.6 request, and a prohibition is not a development standard that Clause 4.6 can vary.

How to assess a battle-axe site before buying

1. Get the deposited plan and measure the handle width and length and the rear lot dimensions; check for rights of carriageway and easements in the Section 88B instrument, because a shared driveway is often a right of way over the front lot rather than part of the rear lot.
2. Recalculate the lot area excluding the handle and test it against the LEP minimum lot size, the dual occupancy minimum and the 450 square metre secondary dwelling threshold.
3. Read the LEP for battle-axe specific clauses (Penrith Clause 4.1A is the model) and the DCP for handle width, length, lot dimension and setback rules.
4. Check the driveway grade from the kerb to the rear lot against AS 2890.1 and the council’s driveway specification; a long handle on a steep block can exceed the maximum grade or need a transition that eats the front lot’s parking.
5. Locate the stormwater discharge point. A rear lot often drains to the rear, and if there is no downstream easement or street drainage, the DA will need an inter-allotment drainage easement over a neighbour, which is a title negotiation, not a planning decision.
6. Test the CDC geometry (3 metre laneway, 12 by 12 metre lot, 450 square metres) and, if it fails, price the DA pathway and the notification period into the program.

Definitions

Battle-axe lot

Under Clause 1.5 of the Codes SEPP, a lot that has access to a road by an access laneway; council DCPs use the same idea and call the laneway an access handle or access corridor.

Access handle (access laneway, access corridor)

The narrow strip of the lot connecting the main part of the lot to the road, used as a driveway. Its area is excluded from lot size calculations under most LEPs and the state housing codes.

Shared access corridor

An access handle that serves two lots, either as part of both titles or by a right of carriageway. Blacktown requires 5 metres and The Hills 6 metres of width for a shared corridor.

Right of carriageway

An easement registered under Section 88B of the Conveyancing Act 1919 allowing one lot to pass over another for access. Georges River LEP 2021 excludes the area of a right of carriageway from lot size in the same way as a handle.

Minimum dimension

The shortest straight-line measurement across the buildable part of a lot; Blacktown DCP 2015 requires 12 metres in any direction for a battle-axe lot, and the Housing SEPP requires 12 by 12 metres for a secondary dwelling CDC.

Forward direction

The requirement that vehicles enter and leave the site without reversing onto the street, which on a long handle means a turning bay or turning area in front of the garage.

URBA prepares development due diligence reports for battle-axe and rear-lot sites across Sydney, measuring the handle, recalculating the area and testing DA and CDC geometry before you commit, and statements of environmental effects that address the DCP access and setback controls. See our development due diligence report service and our Hills Shire town planner page, or request a fee proposal for a site. For driveway grades and swept paths on long handles, our sister company Swept Paths can assist.